The present invention relates to an arrangement at least for providing a user with access to a communications system or network supporting personal mobility wherein said access is protected. The invention thus relates to providing a user with access to a subscription e.g. from his own or from an arbitrary communications terminal wherein the giving of access code information is required, particularly coded in DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency), i.e. the user must in some way identify himself or rather his entitlement to use the subscription. The invention also relates to a system for providing a user with access to telecommunications services. Still further the invention relates to a method for accessing a protected telecommunications system, i.e. to get access to a subscription to at least one telecommunications system, e.g. system or network mobility.
The invention also relates to an arrangement, system and method, respectively, supporting enhanced functionality for controlling and making outgoing calls.
When a user wants access to e.g. a subscription of a communications system using e.g. any telecommunications unit or terminal, i.e. when the subscription relates to the subscriber and not to a given terminal or a fixed terminal, the user has to identify himself or give such information so as to show that he is entitled to use the subscription and account information. For example Universal Personal Telecommunication (UPT) supports personal mobility in so far as a user being entitled to use a subscription (or the subscriber if the subscriber is also the user; a subscription may allow one or more than one user to use the subscription) can use any telecommunications unit or terminal to make and/or receive calls irrespectively of which terminal is at his disposal at the time. The UPT mobility support network (or the UPT telecommunications system) supports one or more of e.g. a fixed telecommunications network such as a public switched telecommunications network (PSTN), a cellular network (MCN) or a private telecommunications network (PTN). A user can then access the UPT subscription which he is entitled to access over a normal DTMF signal e.g. via a fixed telephone. To access a UPT subscription a user first has to dial the UPT access number. Thereafter the user must identify himself. For this purpose a personal user identity (PUI) code has to be entered. For reasons of security a so called personal identification number (PIN) has to be entered thereupon. Thus, not only the user has to enter the UPT access number but also the PUI- and the PIN-code respectively. The PUI- and the PIN-code may require the giving of up to e.g. 24 digits. The entering of such an amount of numbers is cumbersome. Furthermore, in addition to being a waste of time, it is not always easy to remember all the digits of the respective codes bearing in mind that they have to be kept safely somewhere. Therefore they may often have to be written down somewhere, which for reasons of security is not a very satisfactory solution.
Therefore the sending of the code information has been simplified through the introduction of a device in the form of a separate apparatus which comprises means for storing (coded in DTMF) e.g. the PUI code and the PIN code. The apparatus further comprises a loudspeaker through which the stored authentication information can be emitted.
Thus, if the user uses a fixed telephone terminal for accessing his UPT subscription and, after having entered his UPT number, a UPT database in an intelligent network (IN) node, e.g. a so called Service Control Point SCP, requests the user to give the PUI- and PIN-codes. The user then places the apparatus close to the microphone of the fixed, e.g. PSTN, telephone, activates the device and transmits the stored information.
However, it is a clear disadvantage of the known solution that a separate device is required. Today a user who wants to be reachable most of the time and who wants to be able to make e.g. a telephone call in principle from anywhere and at any time, mostly is in possession of a cellular mobile telephone. Thus in principle he would need to have both the abovementioned device and a cellular telephone at his disposal most of the time.
However, irrespectively of whether the user is in possession of a cellular telephone or not, he has to carry around his apparatus for accessing his (or the intended) UPT-subscription, said apparatus in any other aspect being of no use whatsoever.
WO 96/04741 and WO 96/05683 show autodialling devices for automatically dialling telephone numbers and a smart card capable of being acoustically coupled to a telephone respectively. However, both these devices are separate apparatuses substantially similar to what was described above.
DE-A-4 303 996 shows the use of a mobile telephone of the mobile network DCS-1800 as a DTMF-sender for accessing a communication service. However, if the user of the telephone goes abroad there is a problem since from different countries, different access numbers are required. This means that the user has to bring the information e.g. on a list or similar about which are the access codes from different countries. If he loses the list, access is not possible. Furthermore, if the user is in a country in which there is no coverage for DCS-1800, he can neither use his telephone, nor access his UPT-subscription in an easy manner.